I recently wrote an article about organizational culture vs. creativity and innovation. One of the key points is many organizations and their members have barriers to ideas. Some of them are obvious and some, not so much—they remain unspoken, hidden within organizational culture. One source of these barriers comes from the attitude of leadership of the organization. Do they support creativity and ideas or shun anything that shakes up the status quo? Are creative efforts communicated? Are idea mavericks ostracized or celebrated? Are failures and mistakes viewed as learning experiences or horror stories?
Some of these organizational roadblocks include:
• Management “non” acceptance of ideas
• Maintenance of status quo
• One focus-long term v. short term or vice versa
• Limited view of value of creativity and innovation
• Preconceived notions about creativity and innovation
• Distrust of the new or unfamiliar
• Lack of experience in innovation
• Inflexible/rigid organization
• Traditions
• Lack of channels or processes for input
Other creative barriers come in the form of personal issues and aversions to anything new or different.
Some of these individual barriers include:
• Close mindedness
• Fear of ridicule or criticism
• Fear of failure
• Past experiences coloring current situations
• View self as a non-creative person
• No experience with creativity
Take some time to consider these barriers. Are there any you could add to this list that are affecting your organization? What are your own attitudes toward innovation and creativity?
Now consider, what can you do to help remove some of these roadblocks?
Want more ideas to unleash Creativity@Work? For more information on how to get your copy of THE training guide to Creativity@Work, Growing Great Ideas: Unleashing More Creativity@Work, visit the E-book website. Don’t forget to follow me on Twitter or become a fan of my Facebook Creativity@Work page.
I can also train you and your organization to be more creative and innovative at work. Email me for more information.
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